Discover Moldova with #MOLDPRES: Nature reserves - country's green gold as tourist purpose

The tourist season begins at the nature reserves of Moldova with the starting of the spring. Most visitors are pupils from education institutions who planned excursions ever since the beginning of the year; yet, these destinations have become interesting for tourists from abroad as well.   

The most important nature reserves from the country, The Forests, The Beach Tree Region, Princely Forest and the Lower Prut, attracts tourists not only through natural landscapes, rare species of flora and fauna, but also through the arrangement of tourist itineraries, information centres and some of them have accommodation/camping places or museums of nature.       

The oldest nature reserves, The Forests , with an area of 5,170 hectares, proposes tourists to visit the Nature Reserve’s Museum, which includes about 500 samples, being structured according to the topic-related principle. The museum is in perfect correlation with the situation of the reserve on the spot, having duties of conservation, restoration and presentation of collections for the wide public, activities of education and informing in the field of conservation of the biodiversity. An Arboretum is created on the area of the reserve, a tourist route; the reserve also has accommodation places.        

The Beach Tree Region reserve has its geographical position in the central Moldova. The landscape’s attractiveness comes from the way the relief is structured, through the increase in the heights and the fragmentation of the territory. To promote the century-old beach trees (height of 35 metres, the average diameter of 1 metre and age of more than 100 years), a tourist route with a length of about 2.3 km is set on the territory of the reserve, which can be covered in 2 hours and has a medium difficulty. There are four lakes on the area of this nature reserve, on the side of which places for leisure are arranged. It is distinguished through the holding of the Holiday of Beach festival, in order to develop and promote the tourist potential of the reserve and which traditionally takes place in late May. The Radenii Vechi Ecological Information and Education Centre is under renovation.      

The Princely Forest is the biggest reserve, with an area of 5,920 hectares; it includes more tourist attraction points from north Moldova. The La Fontal eco-tourist boarding house is a point of tourists’ relaxation. The most important attraction stays, however, the Farm of Ure Oxes, which presently has seven animals (5 males and 2 females).    

The Lower Prut Reserve was created, in order to protect, preserve and study the swamp ecosystem and inundable meadow of the Prut river. The universal value of the natural heritage was recognized through the declaring as wet area of international importance, especially as habitat of water birds, as a result of the adoption of the Ramsar Convention. Through the impressive diversity of the habitats and the life forms which it hosts in a relatively small area, the Lower Prut represents a true museum of biodiversity. The possibilities of visiting the reserve are varied and depend on the time available, category of age of tourists, as well as on the hydrological level of the Beleu lake, which is the most important attraction of this area. Three excursions on land and water routes, with a length of 3 km each, are possible.

Correspondent: Lilia Grubii